Compelling Read, Part 3

Christian Materialism
It was shocking to read about the state of giving amongst Christians in the U.S. According to John and Sylvia Ronsvalle, who publish a yearly report called "The State of Christian Giving", it's pretty pathetic. It seems that the richer we get the less we give in proportion to our income. In 2001 members of eight evangelical denominations gave 4.27% of their income away while members of seven mainline denominations gave only 3.17%. Only about 9% of evangelicals (Christians committed to Biblical inerrancy and authority, sharing their faith and other things -- roughly 9% of the population) actually tithe.

If all American Christians tithed there would be enough additional funds to provide basic healthcare and education for every single one of the world's poor, with still $60-70 billion per year to devote to outright evangelism (see pages 21-22 of Sider's book). And by the way, Jesus does command us to pay special attention to the poor, as well as the orphan and widow.

It's amazing to think about what we could do. But perhaps the more pertinent question is, "What would we need to give up in order to give what we ought to?" Are American Christians really grappling with this issue, or have we decided this is an outdated command, and not one we should have to follow anymore? Have we surrendered in the battle against a consumerist mentality? Have we walked away discouraged, as the rich young ruler did, when Jesus asked for everything?

In the next entry I want to explore one of the ways I think that we try to avoid dealing with this issue.